


No Rest For the Weary

by Jeenius_the_Dork



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Hyrule Dolls, Hyrule angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Oops, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 15:26:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20010541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeenius_the_Dork/pseuds/Jeenius_the_Dork
Summary: It had to be the fucking dolls.





	No Rest For the Weary

**Author's Note:**

> oh shit i cant believe i forgot to say this but this whole fic was sparked by the wonderful Nyoom and Anna's idea on discord. shit im a fucking idiot for forgetting to say that.

Honestly, the first time anyone checked Hyrule’s map they couldn’t believe he could make some actual semblance of the mess he left on it. Literally the entire thing was littered with dots labelled  _ I Was Here _ in horribly messy penmanship, a few times they could see a drawing of a heart or a bottle. Or, at least, they thought it was a bottle. However there was one thing that stood out, that didn’t make a lick of sense.

Six small drawings of himself jumped out of them, all in different places on the map. While everything else had been labelled, possibly much later given the sudden neatness of the handwriting, the drawings of himself held some sort of mystery even to Hyrule himself. Written beside them were just question marks.

Given the scale of Hyrule’s world, and the amount of times they heard about him getting lost, they could only assume it was just representation he got lost there or something. It wasn’t something to get worried over, or think about very much in their honest opinion. If Hyrule never brought it up, then neither would they.

There was just one small issue with their plan. Hyrule noticed, he  _ definitely _ noticed something was wrong. Despite wanting to tell them about the dolls he’d collected, he couldn’t bring himself to it. Partially because finding strange dolls of yourself in the middle of nowhere is already weird and sketchy as fuck, the other was something he didn’t know if he could even explain.

A small part of him wondered if one of them had already noticed. Looking through his adventure pouch Hyrule knew originally he had  _ six _ dolls. There were only five in his bag.

He had no idea when he had lost track of them, it could have been while he was trying to save Zelda, it could have been recent. He never bothered to really check on the dolls that often. After all, what are you really supposed to think when you find creepy dolls that look exactly like you out in the open? 

He had no idea why he even kept the things. Something was compelling him to keep them. Some instinct told him to keep those dolls safe because they would come in handy one day. There was no real reason for him to feel this way, but he did.

And he really didn’t like it.

Considering how creepy they were, he was sure if one of the others had found his doll they would have mentioned it by now. So on the plus side, he didn’t have to explain he kept strange dolls that looked like him just yet.

_ Just yet. _

-

Something in the team dynamic changed dramatically one day. He couldn’t remember exactly what happened. One moment Hyrule was fighting a horde of ridiculously overpowered Wizzrobes with Legend and Four, the next he woke up off the ground completely disoriented. And Legend, man Legend looked far worse for wear than normal. 

Nearly no one else would look at him as Legend pulled the younger hero back into a standing position. The sole exception to that was Wild, strangely enough. Though he spoke no words Wild’s expression said more than enough.   
  
**Pity.**

Hyrule hated it. He already knew he wasn’t a fantastic legendary hero like the rest of them. He had no fancy title for people to remember through the ages. He was simply a humble traveller that just happened to have saved his princess Zeldas. He already knew he was lesser than they were, he didn’t need to be reminded of that whenever even the slightest thing went wrong for him.

Though he was young and maybe he had an easier time than the rest of them did, but he was  _ just _ as capable as they were. Sure something went a little wrong but shit happens. If any of them said they’d never gotten into hot water before they were all lying. 

“I’m fine, you don’t have to give me that look.” Hyrule said to Legend, brushing some ash off his tunic. Strange considering he was sure no one had used any fire elemental weapons, or at least they didn’t when he was conscious. Perhaps they did while he passed out.

Still, it was strange. He couldn’t smell anything burning. There was always that distinct burnt smell after anyone used their fire based items, so the fact that it wasn’t there was odd.

Only later when he started looking through his adventure pouch did he start to suspect something might be wrong.    
  
Counting once, twice and then a third for good measure, Hyrule could only find four dolls. Another one of his dolls was missing. He was hoping, praying, to Hylia that someone had found it and were just too nervous to tell him they had it. That they were too weirded out about the fact he had dolls that looked exactly like him in his pouch.

_ Please... _ **_please_ ** let that be the case.

As the days passed Hyrule realised if no one was going to mention a thing. If they knew the reason why he suddenly blacked out, or found his strange doll they weren’t going to say it. And that was completely understandable, he  _ did _ own a creepy doll that looked like himself, but it was a little frustrating that everyone was acting like nothing even happened.

Well except one person. It was both surprising and not surprising at all that Legend was keeping a much closer eye on him than before. Legend was...weird about that. Generally the people he was “closer” to per se, he always paid a little more attention to afterwards. 

He  _ knew _ it had to deal with them being from the same time period. The one where the hero of Time failed and died. It was the same story as Twilight and Time (honestly he still didn’t understand how Wild fit in with that but whatever). The thing was Legend wasn’t really one to express that he cared a lot through words, so it was just... **_weird_ ** .

_ I can do this. If everyone else can pretend like nothing happened so can I.  _ Hyrule desperately tried to convince himself to believe this. But the magic pouch on his hip on felt lighter, simply with the knowledge only four dolls remained.

At this point he had no idea if he still didn’t expect it, or if he totally did expect it. Of course it had to be Lynels. Lynels were the fucking worst. Well, actually, maybe not as bad as those axe throwing jerks but they were still awful. 

There were some that weren’t used to the Lynels at all, some who had never even seen them before. So Hyrule did the only thing he thought was logical in that moment of time. He pulled a Wild and took a hit for Wind. Sure, he knew Wind was just as capable as he was but this was also a  **_Lynel._ ** It wasn’t an overpowered, underestimated Bokoblin. Lynels were some of the most deadly creatures from his own Hyrule and it seemed as time went on they only got worse.

“You need to stop doing this.” Time sighed that night. 

Empty bottles of red and blue potions lay around the camp. The twinkle of fairy dust still settled on the dried grass. No one wanted to speak. Of course they didn’t, when it was Hyrule no one wanted to say anything if he decided to self sacrifice. 

He shouldn’t be this upset over it, to be honest it was better when tried to call him out, well until Time. 

Hyrule stuffed his makeshift map back into his bag. They were coming close to one of the first places he’d found his dolls. Honestly he wasn’t excited to find another one, but part of him also hoped that he would. He didn’t like how close the number was getting to zero. It unsettled him. There was something strange about it. But he had no idea what.

“It’s not like I can help it. Or any of us really. It’s part of our “Hero’s Spirit”, right?” Hyrule replied.

Thankfully, Time seemed to understand it was time to back off. That Hyrule wasn’t in the mood for this right now, and Hyrule appreciated that so much. They really weren’t close, not like the way he was with Legend or Four and honestly that was fine. Everything was fine.

Everything would be fine.

**_Nothing was fine._ **

There was only one doll left. Now Hyrule was just pissed off. He honestly could not remember what happened to him before waking up covered in ash and missing his weird creepy, voodoo dolls. He couldn’t deny it any longer, these dolls were cursed.  _ Something _ was making everything more difficult for him and with the sudden disappearance of his dolls he knew that had something to do with it.

And still, no one said a fucking thing. He was tired of it, the sudden backouts, the dust, everyone being so fucking secretive about the whole ordeal. There was nothing he could do because even if he tried everyone would change the subject, he knew this by now. He was beyond frustrated, he expected better of his friends. 

Sure the all kept secrets but this was fucking ridiculous, especially since  **_he was a major part of it._ **

But then, as if the golden goddesses themselves had heard his prayers, someone finally broke the silence. It was, unsurprisingly, Legend with his usual moderately cryptic “Walk with me” despite the silent protests of the others. 

From what he could tell, Legend couldn’t give any less fucks at that particular moment.

At first the walk was just as silent as the rest of the time. That wasn’t much of a surprise. Legend simply looked forward, fists clenched, walking with great purpose towards a location it seemed not even the man himself knew. 

Once the were far enough from the camp, Legend stopped. He turned around to face Hyrule, the neutral expression on his face being betrayed by his clenched fists. Hyrule knew he was trying to hold back, to not completely blow up at the younger hero.

“I’m going to skip the fluff and cut right to the chase, you’ve been dying Hyrule. Those creepy dolls of yours, they brought you back to life. Every. Single. Time.” Legend explained.

Okay. Of all things Hyrule expected Legend to say, this was not one of them. This was actually the last thing Hyrule expected him to say. 

“I’m sorry, did you just say I  _ died _ and had a  _ doll _ bring me back to life?!” Hyrule asked incredulously.

“Well unless your magic, yeah I know about your spells, are able to grant you temporary death and you were pulling an elaborate prank on us all yes, You died. We even had our resident death expert, oh wait ha ha that’s me, check to see if you were alive. We were fucking worried sick until this fucking creepy-ass doll that looks exactly like you crawled out fo you bag and suddenly you were alive again.” Legend ranted, the hand waving became more pronounced and his voice only continued to rise in both volume and pitch as he ranted.

“Did you even know that’s what your dolls did? Kid none of us can even begin to comprehend what the fuck has been happening to you. And honestly we’re pretty certain you don’t either. You’ve always looked just as confused as the rest of us, and I guess even though those creepy fuckers just literally crawl out of your bag and disappear into ash upon reviving you they’ve been doing you good. It’s just-” he paused for a moment, relaxing his over tense shoulders. “We’re worried about you, man.”

In all honesty, Hyrule was at a loss for words. Anyone would be if you were told your weird doll collection brought you back from the dead. Maybe the dolls really were some kind of dark magic. Maybe he shouldn’t have touched them. Nothing good was coming out of it.

Did he know? There were originally six and this all started with him only having five left.

Did he?

_ To truly prove yourself worthy of the Triforce, you must conquer yourself. Honestly hadn’t he already done enough?  _

_ Being split apart from your shadow was, unsurprisingly, painful. But the dark figure gave him no room to worry about it. Without missing a beat after separating from the young hero the shadow drew its sword and began slashing.  _

_ Every blow Hyrule delivered the shadow would give right back. There was a slight reassurance that, being the same person, he was also that strong. But at the same time he was fighting for his life and it was terrifying being so equally matched with your opponent that you physically could not get the better of them. _

_ And that’s probably where he made the mistake. A single frame where he didn’t pay attention and he was on the ground. Standing above him, the shadow raised its sword over its head. He could see the faint malicious grin on its face as it swung the sword down. _

_ And then there was just darkness. He wasn’t ready or worthy of holding the Triforce. He wasn’t like the hero of Legend, who’d seen and touched the damned thing four times. He was just a kid who travelled the wrong place at the wrong time and that’s all he’d ever be. _

_ Or so he thought. Dust slowly fell to the floor as the young hero stood. He was mildly aware of what happened, but not totally just yet. _

_ The shadow stood before him once more. This time it stood there, waiting for him. He could sense the smug smirk on the shadow’s face.  _

_ With a taunting wiggle of the sword in its hands, the shadow leapt towards Hyrule once more. Hopefully this time with much better results. _

Fuck. Hyrule did realise it. He realised how many times he must have died in front of everyone. Everyone else always had a very close call, but Hyrule...he actually fucking died. He didn’t know how to explain it, he actually felt like he owned Legend an apology, but no words could come out.

Hyrule just stood there, mouth slightly open, fighting to find the words he so desperately wanted to tell his friend, his hero, and he had nothing. It fucking sucked, especially in a moment he  _ knew _ he should be explaining himself. Sadly, life had other plans for him.

Legend quickly scanned the boy. He seemed to clue into the mood almost immediately, placing a hand on Hyrule’s shoulder. “I- we don’t want to lose you, kid. Just, work a little smarter not harder, alright?”

With only one doll remaining, and the context of Legend’s words Hyrule supposed he owed it to the man. To be more careful because his fall back plan, was nearly at its end. 

And it was safe to say no one wanted to know what would happen if he lost that last doll.


End file.
